The goal of the Oregon BIRCWH Development Program is to create a stimulating and nurturing environment for junior faculty to develop into leading Physician Scientists in Women's Health. The program recognizes that research can modify the course of disease at one point in a woman's lifespan and affect the rest of lifelong development and aging. The program pairs basic and clinical junior faculty scientists with established mentors from different backgrounds who have expertise in Women's Health Issues in order to enhance the scholar's research capabilities. The mix of career paths and backgrounds will be integral to increasing collaboration and invigorating research in Women's Health across the lifespan. The extensive intellectual and research resources at the Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) are available and committed to developing BIRCWH scholars. Integration is interdepartmental and will enhance existing collaborations in Women's Health between scientists in the Center for Women's Health, the Heart Research Center, the Primate Research Center and the Cancer Institute. Sophisticated research core laboratories specializing in Molecular Biology, Cell Culture, DNA analysis, Imaging, Statistics, Assisted Reproductive Techniques, Endocrine Assays, Laboratory Animal, Transgenic and Molecular Genetics Cores, among others, have already been established and will be available to the BIRCWH Scholars. Advanced training in designing clinical studies and statistical evaluation for clinician scientists will be coordinated through the highly successful SOM Human Investigations Program. The mentors of this BIRCWH Program are funded scientists who will provide diverse and in-depth mentorship for scholars in areas of women's health that extend across the lifespan. Six major areas of focus will constitute the initial BIRCWH program: fetal environment in programming lifelong gender differences in cardiovascular function; reproduction and health which includes ovulation, normal/abnormal parturition, hormonal effect upon pelvic floor function and menopause; neurobiology and gender differences; substance abuse in women; cancers of women; aging and end of life research in women. [unreadable] [unreadable]